are the dual 16 inch fans from troyer's worth the $355 price tag? is the power gain that noticeable? gas mileage improved? i have a 2000 expy 4.6. please help...i dont want to waste $355!

 

Thats the same thing i am curious about. I have convinced myself that they would be a noticeable improvement. 20 ponies at the top end to the rear wheels. I can see the seat of the pants meter noticing that quite nicely. And also, have u priced fans elsewhere?? I doubt u have if u have posted this. If u are serious about fans those are the ones to get. I have found others that are more expensive and have 14 inch fans. Which makes no sense right?? Anyway read the post in computer chips forums labeled Fans/Pullies with tuner. That is my post and a guy posted his results with those fans. I think u will be pleased. I cant wait to get mine... however its gonna be a while b4 i can afford them. Good luck and if u get them let us know how it turns out.

 

thanx for the reply Silver&Blue, i checked out that post u mentioned & i think im gonna have to give em a try! Ill probably order them this weekend & i'll post my results & let u know how they work! thanx again!

 

I'm unconvincd any electric fan is worth THAT much HP. They still drain battery power which then the alternator has to recharge.

A clutch fan will basically freewheel whenever the car isn't hot enough.

All that being said, I run an electric fan in my 74 nova because idle temperatures got too high with the regular fan.

 

A set of underdrive pulleys went on mine last year and Troyer E-fans a few weeks ago. The pulleys were worth about 8.5 hp on the dyno and the seat of the pants and the E-fans *seem* to be worth about twice the difference of the pulleys.

In 75 to 85* weather my fans hardly come on if I'm moving at all, typically at a stop light for a minute or so.

One thing I did is go to Radio Shack and buy 2 LED indicator lamps(red, green and amber are available colors) and put them in my gauge pod to let me know the fans are running. Tied one LED into each fan. Got change back out of a $5 bill.

 

Check out the following site: http://www.balmar.net/Page8-faq.htm

They claim a 1 HP draw per 25 amp with their alternator.

PPI fans draw 27 amps at start and 18.4 when running. I called Aneta.

I don't have the power requirement of spinning the fan/clutch combo on the F-150.

Having said that here goes:

I would say that at low RPM the fan/clutch combo draws less HP than it does at max rpm. One more thing to consider is that the fan/clutch is pushing air and that also requires energy.
The electric fans will draw less than 1 HP each when running regardless of engine RPM. One unsientific way to check if there is power released would be to start your truck and look at the tac when it first starts. Then remove the fan/*clutch and look at the tack at start up.
It will idle higher because the draw on the engine is less. The PCM sets the IAC based on the last know idle before shut down. When it starts up it has the settings from when the fans were still on the truck and becasue the power requirement is no longer there it will idle higher till the PCM notices it and it lowers the idle.

I have the fans on my truck. I can not say how much power I gained because I did not dyno the truck. All I know is that the tires will spin easier now after the fans were installed.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Dont forget that once you're moving fast enough that the oncoming air cools the radiator below the setpoint of the electric fans they cut off.

So they will draw 0 amps/HP while on the highway and also at lower speed in colder climates.

 

And a good clutch fan will be freewheeling and eating 0 HP.

I switched from clutch fan to electric and the only times I have a difference in 1/4 mile times is when I turn the fan off completely and then turn it back on at the back of the race. If the car is hot and the electric fan is on, I get the same time as with the clutch fan with a hot car. If I go at either route when its cold and the electric fans are off and the clutch fan was freewheeling, I go the same times.

To me the huge benefit was being able to turn it on when I desired, leave it on while the car was off between races, etc, to cool things down.

 

Mark,

The OEM fans on our trucks never freewheel. They slow down but they are always drawing power from the engine. The speck is between 1/2 to aprox 2/3 the speed of the water pump or replace the clutch.

JMC

 

Oh, I see.

Then it would seem to me to be cheaper to get a better clutch fan that freewheels than go to an expensive electric fan setup.

Or are there no better aftermarket clutch fans available for these?

 

LE PEW makes an excellent point: an electric fan uses no power when it's not running. And it only runs when needed. I've had an electric fan for over four years. It rarely runs in the winter...only if I'm stuck in traffic for too long. It runs more often in the summer, but if I'm even just going 10-20 MPH it is not needed. In stop-and-go traffic, it won't run if there is enough go.

When running, the electric will use more power than a clutch fan. But again, it runs so little you come out way ahead.

I didn't like the clutch fan. It was always spinning and was noisy. Maybe I had a bad clutch, but I like the electric much better. I also don't like the idea of that heavy clutch and fan hanging on the end of my water pump. Gotta be hard on the pump bearings.

And you don't have to spend hundreds of $$$ for an electric. The fan I bought was $90 and the thermostatic controller thingy was about $20. I also wired a switch and LED on the dash so I could control it and see when it is running.

Right after I installed it, I noticed the engine seemed to rev a lot easier. I'm sticking with the electric.

 

Danny,

Why do you say an electric fan draws more than a mechanical fan?

JMC

 

Another note, electric fans always turn the same RPM, so the load on the engine doesn't increase when the engine is turning 5000 rpms. I wouldn't stick my finger in a freewheeling fan. A fan clutch is designed to let the fan slip when the temp is low, but it is always turning pretty fast. If a fan clutch were perfect, it would work just like an electric fan.
Side note: The new 6.0L Diesels have electronically controlled fan clutches.

 

The reason f150s have a fan clutch and not twin electric fans is down to production costs. Is it worth the trouble to change over? biggest gains you will notice will be quicker warm up (great in winter) lower noise (hear the fan roar on hot days from 5 min parking) better mpg? more power to the wheels? tough to tell or even measure. maybe less wear on pump bearing and belt. I think thats all you going to get.

 

Has anyone noticed much of an improvement in MPG with the electric fan?